Published by Programme B
Technology and sports have been shaping up the Canadian culture for a while. When e-commerce became a thing more than 10 years ago, Canadians immediately embraced it. More recently, soccer, basketball and minor sports like eSports have become part of the country’s mainstream culture. What’s new in 2019?
Healthy Eating
CBC media dietician Sue Mah last year said that “there has never been a more exciting time for nutrition.” She was right. Canadians have been making major changes to their diets, replacing junk foods with healthy balanced diets countrywide.
“Tasty” is the biggest health keyword online, meaning the country loves delicious dishes as much as it cares about health. As you would expect, the blogs have been full of content related to delicious healthy meals while the number of Instagram foodies keeps on rising.
Professionals that hardly get free time to source ingredients for healthy meals have a solution thanks to the Internet. A new crop of businesses called food delivery services has been establishing throughout the country. With their services, you choose a diet from a list of 20+ healthy meals. The company delivers prepped ingredients and guides on how to cook them.
Logomania Fashion Trends
Like many countries, Canada is guilty of following major fashion trends wherever they come from. This year, the country is fast catching up on Logomania, the 90s trend of wearing branded clothes that is shaping up again around the world.
You’ll see Gucci logos on sneakers, Maple Leafs jerseys, Calvin Klein pants, and Yankees T-shirts in every Canadian city these days. Sure, branded items didn’t just reappear. They’ve been around all along but logomania just went mainstream again.
Unfortunately, most branded items don’t come cheap. It’s not a surprise to see Gucci t-shirts priced at over $900. Premium Jordan sneakers cost $300 or more while Louis Vuitton bags start at $400. If you are going to join Logomania, be prepared to part with substantial amounts of cash.
Online Gaming Fever
Online gaming may be a “legal grey area” in the country, but that hasn’t stopped Canadians from joining casino sites. Legally, provinces and counties have the power to set gambling laws. The Kahnawake Mohawk Nation also has the onus of setting up gaming websites for its players.
Despite these laws, most Canadian casino fans gamble on any genuine site that accepts them. Many foreign gambling sites accept members worldwide, even in countries where gambling is illegal. Canada doesn’t have the power to sue international gambling sites and consequently can’t stop Canadians from gambling on foreign sites.
Since Canada doesn’t sue players who use foreign casino sites also, Canadians are starting to prefer online casinos to brick and mortar casinos. No need to dress up or burn fuel hundreds of miles away just to play. An internet-enabled smartphone or laptop is enough to have all night playing casino games.
Smart Speakers
Our friends down the border have been talking to smart devices for several years now. With Apple and Amazon becoming Canadian household names, smart speakers are becoming our culture too. Ordering groceries online is as simple as talking to Alexa. You have three voice options: Echo, Tap and Echo dot.
Google home has also been penetrating into the Canadian tech sphere. Instead of typing products and online magazines, switch to voice search. Apple’s Siri is already an established voice leader in the country, taking the number of big and reliable smart speakers to three.
Whoever solves the privacy and security concerns everyone seems to have with voice speakers may as well win the country’s attention. Since 2017, there has been an upsurge of hacking incidents targeting home WiFis, smart speakers and Internet of Thing devices. But until comprehensive solutions are made, the best you can do is to secure your smart speakers using these tricks.
Embracing International Sports
The Raptors have been around since 1995 but it wasn’t until recently that Canadians began paying attention to international sports. Soccer is proving to be the new favorite of Canadians, with three teams already confirmed into Major League Soccer.
Of course, hockey isn’t losing its top position as Canada’s favorite sport yet. 46% of the country love hockey over any other sport. Canadian Football League is the second most popular sport at 26%. The NFL comes in at the third position while soccer and the rest take up the remaining positions.
The upswing of international sports in the country corresponds to increasing immigration in the country. The country’s population has tripled since the Second World War Two. About 22% of the country’s population is foreign-born, with 60% of the immigrants being Asians.
Online Identities
This is long overdue. Everyone around the world with access to the Internet has some form of online identity. Whether it’s an email address or a social media account, few people can claim to have zero interest on the Internet.
In Canada, the race to have a digital identity is shaping up in the form of owning websites, starting social media businesses and YouTube channels. We saw how it worked out for Justin Bieber. It’s working out for makeup icon Gigi Gorgeous, Lilly Singh and many more in the online space.
The majority of Canadians don’t intend to be famous by establishing digital identities. They are simply interested in the connections the Internet offers and the space to market their brands and interact with the world.
To Conclude
The Great White North is always at the forefront of following global trends. At times, Canadians initiate trends and show the world what’s cool. Currently, sports and technology are Canada’s biggest interests. From soccer to the CFL, smart speakers to online gaming, these are the things trending in the country.
Fortunately, most of the country’s trending activities are positive and intended to impact change. Smart speakers despite security concerns have eased online shopping. Exposing Canadians to international sports only makes them more competitive. Online gaming is legal in most developed countries anyway and the Internet isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
Photo by Andre Furtado from Pexels